1. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to a computer peripheral and, more particularly, to a combined receiver and memory in a computer peripheral.
2. Description of Related Art
Presentation applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint® enable businesspersons, students and others to create and present professional looking presentations. The presentations typically comprise a series of static slides or multimedia images that the presenter displays in sequence on a host computer by pressing a “page down” key on a keyboard, or by clicking on a “next page” icon or the like in an on-screen interface using a mouse or other pointing device, when it is desired to view the next slide or segment. Applications such as Adobe Acrobat® also display successive pages using similar commands. Presentation software is available from many other suppliers as well, including Corel® and Apple®. Such presentations are typically created using software installed on a host computer, and the resulting data is stored on the hard drive for subsequent use. For presenters who travel, a portable laptop computer may be used to enable the presentation to be made at another location.
While a presentation may be viewed on the monitor of the host computer with small audiences, it is often desirable with larger audiences to connect a projector as a peripheral to the host computer to display the presentation images on one or more screens, typically in the same room as the host computer. It is also possible using networking techniques to display the presentation on remote computer monitors and screens. Recently, receiver peripherals have been developed that enable the presenter to page through the slides using a handheld wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitter. Such transmitters are convenient because they allow the presenter to stand at a lectern or other location near the screen to point out specific features of the slides without having to return to the keyboard of the host computer to display the next slide.
For presenters that travel, in particular, it is often not convenient to carry a laptop computer, and further difficulties often arise in setting up the computer with the projector equipment at the remote presentation location. While memory peripherals have been developed that enable storage and transport of data, this approach requires that an additional peripheral and cabling be carried while traveling. Moreover, an additional unused peripheral port on the host computer is needed.